Thousands more people with type 1 diabetes to get artificial pancreas in NHS roll out

[everydayupsanddowns]

One of my particular bugbears. Two years in I love my HCL but anyone getting one of these devices and misled by ‘artificial pancreas’ term thinking it makes diabetes go away is in for a disappointing experience.

Scrap that I initially thought like an operation to swap thr current pancreas for a new one. Silly me...

Yep. It’s an ongoing frustration and as @Misunderstood says - it’s actually quite misleading

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Sounds good. But how effective will it actually be and what's the risks ??

They're effective. More so for people with long-term HbA1c but still tend to reduce HbA1c for those with HbA1c closer to target. NICE publish the evidence (or at least summaries and references to it), https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta943/evidence

 

[Jasmin2000]

I was turned down for a HCL some months ago with the reason that my A1c was "too good" at 5.4% and eligibility is still, ....adults who have HbA1c of 7.5% or higher. So if I go wild for 3 months and I hit 7.5% will I get one?

NHS logic is purely for short term economics and fails miserably in the long term as we all know.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

So if I go wild for 3 months and I hit 7.5% will I get one?

No.

NHS logic is purely for short term economics and fails miserably in the long term as we all know.

I understood the main constraint was DSNs: it takes training to get people successfully using an HCL and there aren't enough trained DSNs to offer HCL imminently to everyone who qualifies now. Hence the 5 year rollout (which NICE hasn't used before, apparently, but HCL forces this). The expectation is that the rollout to children will be pretty fast just because many children already use pumps so DSNs who support them can more easily get up to speed on HCL; DSNs for adults apparently sometimes don't know much about pumps.

I think the expectation is that rollout will gradually speed up as more and more DSNs get the training and teams work out what patient training industry can usefully offer. So when the NICE review happens (in 2026, I think) and HCL is offered to all of us (presuming the review goes that way) the offer will be something that can happen in a reasonable time.

 

[Misunderstood]

Yep. It’s an ongoing frustration and as @Misunderstood says - it’s actually quite misleading

Sure is.. glad it's not just me then.

 

[Satan’s little helper]

I was turned down for a HCL some months ago with the reason that my A1c was "too good" at 5.4% and eligibility is still, ....adults who have HbA1c of 7.5% or higher. So if I go wild for 3 months and I hit 7.5% will I get one?

NHS logic is purely for short term economics and fails miserably in the long term as we all know.

Same here. Great A1c. I was at least told the funding is there. Not the trained personel. So I’m held back by the fact they can’t just let me lose on a pump. However when I was given MDI I was left to work it out with little more than a “trifold.” By my estimation. They are probably sitting on more funding because relevant job placements are wide open & not filled?